Why did Knicks, Timberwolves trade KAT, Julius Randle now? Look at the money

In one of the most fascinating and surprising trades the NBA has seen in a while, two talented teams have swapped prominent big men days before the start of preseason. The Minnesota Timberwolves are sending Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks in exchange for Julius Randle, guard Donte DiVincenzo, forward Keita Bates-Diop and a future first-round pick via the Detroit Pistons.

While there are many reasons this move stands out, the financial element adds both intrigue and a possible explanation for why both teams made the deal now instead of during or after this coming season.

The money

Randle is currently extension-eligible and has a player option worth $30.9 million for the 2025-26 season. He can control his own destiny in the near term but does not have a longer contract. This will be his age-30 season, so a new contract via extension or free agency likely covers his early-30s, and there is a lot of variability in his next deal because Randle has made two All-NBA teams in the last four seasons but also has battled more inconsistency than most players who have received those accolades. As such, it makes sense that negotiations could have become contentious, as Randle could lean on his best seasons while the downside risk likely impacted the Knicks’ offer. While Bird rights often lead to free agents returning to their prior team, it is possible the sides were far enough apart to be concerned about how discussions would look in the 2025 offseason.

On the other hand, Towns is under contract for much longer but at a massive salary: $49.2 million for 2024-25, $53.1 million for 2025-26, $57.1 million in 2026-27 and a $61 million player option in 2027-28. The Elizabeth, N.J., native is only a year younger than Randle, and that player option is for his age-32 campaign. Those numbers loomed even larger for the Timberwolves because Anthony Edwards earned a 30-percent max deal by making an All-NBA team in his fourth season. Rudy Gobert still has one or two seasons, depending on if he exercises his 2025-26 player option, on his massive deal. The Wolves are one of the NBA’s most expensive teams now and seemingly for the foreseeable future. Incredibly, the trade with the Knicks only saves them about $9 million in player salary but cuts nearly $50 million off their overall player costs for just the 2024-25 season since the luxury tax is so punitive in the higher levels.

One way to think about this trade financially is the difference between Towns’ actual contract and Randle’s likely wages over that same time period. We do not know Randle’s future, but that margin matters a ton for the Timberwolves considering their obligations and place outside the major markets: They were going to be a remarkably expensive team for a while and had to weather significant risk as Towns’ and potentially Gobert’s next contracts could sour at some point. The franchise, however, is still asset-poor after the Gobert trade, so changing course looked tough and could have gotten much more challenging. At the same time, the Knicks are in the United States’ biggest city and have a wealthy owner apparently willing to pay a big bill over multiple seasons. The Knicks also had a lack of long-term flexibility that made the opportunity cost of spending more over the next few seasons not that big a deal in terms of team quality. Towns is a very good player but paid like a superstar, a discrepancy that matters more to the Timberwolves than the Knicks, helping justify the trade.

Before this deal, it looked like Tim Connelly, the Wolves’ president of basketball operations, was going to need to commit long term to Gobert in 2025, because having him decline his player option and sign at a smaller 2025-26 salary would save the franchise a massive amount of money that season considering the massive tax bill, similar to what Khris Middleton and the Bucks did in 2023. In June of that year, Middleton declined his $40-million contract for 2023-24 and signed a new three-year deal worth at least $93 million.

Now, it is less certain that the Timberwolves will need those savings, depending on Randle’s status. The four-time Defensive Player of the Year potentially loses the leverage to squeeze a stronger long-term deal in his 30s less than a year from now. Instead, there is a chance now that the Timberwolves could be flexible and potentially wield cap space in the summer of 2026 when Gobert and Mike Conley’s current contracts expire.

It is far too early to say what space (if any) they will have and far too early to project whether they could actually get a difference-maker via free agency or trade. The possibility of retooling around one of the league’s best young players in Edwards, though, with talent closer to his own age, opens a new door for the Wolves — even if they are unlikely at the moment to walk through it. Similarly, having DiVincenzo on what appears to be a team-friendly deal for another three seasons helps stabilize their cap sheet and gives Connelly leverage in negotiations with Nickeil Alexander-Walker and others — maybe even including Conley, if rookie Rob Dillingham shows promise over the next year-plus.

The uncertainty involving Randle’s financial future means an eventual resolution totally changes the dynamics of the Timberwolves’ books and the long-term evaluation of the trade. There is a chance Randle re-signs long term at a big number that brings back a lot of the tax bill while also reinstating Gobert’s negotiating power. It is also possible Randle’s next contract is significantly less, or even that he is not on the team, opening the possibility of a 2026 addition but doing so at the cost of a prominent player.

This trade is also significant because of the constraints both the Timberwolves and Knicks had to navigate to make this massive deal legal under the collective bargaining agreement. Due to the Mikal Bridges offseason deal, the Knicks are hard capped at the second apron, and are just $1 million below that limit they cannot exceed for any reason for any amount of time this league year. The Timberwolves are deep into the second apron, so they cannot take on more salary than they ship out in a trade, along with other cumbersome restrictions. As such, a trade involving these two teams needed to include at least one other team to take on salary, a role the Charlotte Hornets will fill.

On the court

The on-court machinations of this deal are what make it so fascinating.

Towns is an incredible talent with two All-NBA selections and four All-Star appearances on his resumé and a current streak of eight consecutive seasons averaging at least 20 points per game. He has also established himself as a superlative shooter for a 7-footer, making 40 percent of his career 3s while taking roughly six attempts per 36 minutes in recent seasons. That, combined with his post-up game, makes Towns a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses and gives Jalen Brunson a dynamic pick-and-roll partner to supercharge the Knicks’ offense.

Towns arrived in the NBA as an exciting defensive prospect but has never delivered on that promise. Few people know Towns’ limitations on that end more than Knicks head coach Tom Thibodeau, who coached Towns for three seasons in Minnesota. Years after Thibodeau’s departure, Connelly decided to trade a massive number of picks and players for Gobert, with the vision that playing a center next to Towns would allow the Timberwolves to have a strong defensive foundation. That was a key factor in their 2024 Western Conference finals appearance. Considering New York’s lack of other options, Towns will at least start the season primarily playing center, though that role could change over the remainder of his lucrative contract.

The Timberwolves will replace Towns with Randle, another talented but polarizing big man with weaknesses arguably more pronounced than his strengths. In Randle’s last All-NBA season (2022-23), he posted a 29.5 percent usage rate, the fifth-highest for any player listed at power forward or center, behind only Giannis Antetokounmpo, Joel Embiid, LeBron James and Kevin Durant. That season, the Knicks finished second in offensive rating and were almost six points per 100 possessions better on that end when he was on the floor. However, the 6-foot-8 Randle cannot credibly play center defensively and is a much less consistent jump shooter than Towns, as he hit 41 percent and 34 percent from 3 during his two All-NBA seasons but just 31 percent in each of the past two campaigns in which he did not earn that honor.

Offensively, the combination of Randle and Gobert will be far easier to defend, but Randle’s ability to create offense will be useful over the course of the season, particularly in stretches without one or both of Edwards and Conley on the floor. Additionally, DiVincenzo adds valuable perimeter depth to the Timberwolves, as he becomes their best shooter but also a capable defender who should be able to mesh alongside either Edwards or Conley — and potentially both in some lineups. He also could provide vital rotational cover if Dillingham takes longer than the Timberwolves would like to develop. While it will take time to unfold, there is a chance DiVincenzo is the more impactful addition to the Timberwolves in this trade both now and over the three remaining seasons of his contract.

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(Photo of Julius Randle and Karl-Anthony Towns: Sarah Stier / Getty Images)